Sad news upon my arrival home... the passing of my teacher, Dale Chisman -- a brilliant abstract painter. I was fortunate to be part of his abstract painting class at the Art Students League of Denver.
In 1999, I called ASLD asking if I could work on collage in a class that looked appropriate but the teacher of that class was not comfortable with the medium. Eventually someone from the office called back and said Dale Chisman felt collage would be an appropriate medium for his class, composed mostly of serious oil painters, and would be open to working with me.
After that, I went every Monday afternoon that I could manage for about five years. I had two large garden/utility bags filled with magazines, the outside pockets stuffed with rags, brushes, and glue, along with a large support or two. I remember carrying all that gear up the slippery stone steps on bad snow days! Ugh. But it was worth it. I thoroughly appreciated his comments and critiques and learned a lot about abstract art in general. The class had a great community of "regulars," some of whom I still keep in touch with. This photo shows me with my work, circa 2000, at a class show in the lobby of the Art Students League.
Dale always said he was amazed by my patience. I was always struck by his truly insightful comments, warm smile, and encouragement. He will be missed. I wish I had been in town to attend Dale's memorial at the Museum of Contemporary Art. His work remains a great tribute, along with the many people who were influenced by the spirit of his teaching. Some of his work can be seen at Rule gallery's website. Another article on his legacy is here.
I took some beautiful photos at the Denver Botanic Gardens on Saturday. Everything was in full bloom, really colorful, and the weather was spectacular. I've been mulling over a collage series inspired by plant forms and the environment so I took a lot of reference photos. Somehow, plants just keep coming to the forefront of what I'm interested in visually playing with lately. Just the color palette of these grasses amazes and inspires me. Given the economy and its recent vagaries, perhaps I will become the stereotypical "starving artist" sooner, rather than later... Certainly, I have lots of ideas just waiting for the time to be right to develop into art studies / experiments / works! 
